Show your stove some love.....

[gymrat0663]

Today was deep cleaning day (2nd of the season) topped off with a LBT. It's a good thing the neighbors were at work as the ash cloud made its way through the neighborhood. And of course the stove loves being clean as it purrs away keeping things warm once again.

If you've not shown your stove some deep cleaning love yet this season, it's time!

 

[Johnny_Fiv3]

This weekend I have scheduled time to clean mine. Nice deep clean with LBT. After almost 5 tons, I guess I should...

 

[chken]

Even though my stove is not due for a deep clean, via LST, I think Sunday is the day since it might get up to 40 degrees before it starts snowing/sleeting. Tonight's going to be 30 below windchill, so picking a warm day is really helpful!

 

[rich2500]

Did mine last Sunday,Had 1-1/2 ton run through it and was still very clean. I'm gonna go atleast 2 ton next time.

 

[3650]

Did the leaf blower last week. Gonna pull the fan out this weekend and clean it. I think its got some build up and the housing may be caked up too.

 

[SidecarFlip]

This weekend I have scheduled time to clean mine. Nice deep clean with LBT. After almost 5 tons, I guess I should...

Glad I don't live next door to you..................

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

I dust mine occasionally....

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I've already done two deep cleans and have a ways to go before the next one. Likely about Candlemas.

 

[Bioburner]

Have to find a brush for the wood stove. Haven't run a wood stove for years till this season.
MN had three deaths due to carbon monoxide last week.

 

[Peterfield]

Just did mine today and really got into everything but the flue pipe. Busted my vac however so checking for prices now so I can get one here pronto.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Did the large Whit yesterday.
Loved it, sucked out the yuckies, lubed the exhaust fan, yanked the ash baffles and cleaned that are good.

Vacuumed the fan motors after I blew them out with a computer duster.

Washed the windows real good with fantastic spray and a chunk of steel wool.

Sucked out the mechanical cabinet, and then filled the hopper with a bucket of shells and lit it off

MMMM,MMMM, GOOD.


Snowy

 

[Stovensen]

The other day the chimney sweep was here to sweep our 60 feet masonry chimney. He also inspects and cleans the flue pipes from the stoves to the chimney.
On our Whitfield Quest Plus the chimney sweep inspects the flue by unscrewing the two wing nuts on the small lid here:


According to the legislation around here the chimney sweep must do this cleaning and inspection once every year. I usually combine this with a deep clean of the exhaust on the Quest stove.
Here you see the combustion blower before and after cleaning:




The convection blower, however, needs to be cleaned twice each season ( we have two cats ). Here you see a thick layer of cat hair. Now, the cat hairs appear to be evenly distributed on the impeller, but they are NOT... they cause an imbalance on the rotation, so whenever it's time to clean the convection blower, I'll get an acoustic reminder by the excessive vibration noise from the blower


I could imagine that some sort of filter mounted on the intake side of the blower would block the cat hairs from entering, but not the fine layer of dust that clings to the impeller fins. This layer of white dust really puzzles me... what "mechanism" enables these ultra fine particles to cling to the impeller fins? Electrostatics? Who knows. Strange phenomena
Here I have removed the cat hair and the strange white dust on some of the fins:


Question: Is it possible to cover the surface of the impeller with something to prevent the ultra fine dust from clinging to the surface?

 

[chken]

Great write up, and great pics. I'm going to assume that the electrostatic charge is the culprit in making the white dust cling to the impellers.

Maybe if you had a HEPA air filter sitting right next to where the stove intakes the convection fan air, you could suck the white dust out, before the stove got them?

 

[MuchoBueno]

Ok fine I'll ask. What's LBT and LST?

 

[TimfromMA]

LBT = Leaf Blower Trick. You connect the air inlet side of a leaf blower to the end of your vent and switch it on. The leaf blower will suck out and loose ash.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

LBT = Leaf Blower Trick. You connect the air inlet side of a leaf blower to the end of your vent and switch it on. The leaf blower will suck out and loose ash.

Sorta like this enjoy.

 

[titanracer]

Did FULL cleaning yesterday. All plates removed. Venting disassembled & cleaned. Hooked shop vacuum to outside venting, cleaned everything inside with plates removed. Used air compressor to inside of stove thru all passages with shop vacuum hooked up to outside vent to control ash from blowing around. Assembled everything (plates and cleanouts) back in place. Went outside ran LBT and put venting back up. Came back in, pulled all blowers and cleaned, vacuumed out exhaust blower housing and cleaned heat sensor. Put everything back together and fired her up. Ran like new again. Took about 3 hours to cover everything with a fine tooth comb. About 1/2 way thru burn season, should be good now to end with maybe 1 or 2, semi full cleanings, without blowers pulled. Wasn't to bad for 3 months and 1-1/2 tons thru her.

 

[MuchoBueno]

Sorta like this enjoy.

Oh wow, I really never thought of going up on the roof until now!

 

[bcarton]

I'll jump on this bandwagon. I did the deep clean on the stove yesterday, and got up on the roof to measure how far to cut down the leaf vac nozzle. The wind wasn't right, and it was getting dark, so this morning I shut the stove down again and got the vent clean from the top of the chimney - about 17 feet of vent and liner got their first LBT treatment. I am so glad I waited until the wind was blowing across my own back yard, instead of into my neighbors. The videos don't do justice to exactly how impressive that cloud of black soot really is. I should have worn a mask, though. I did manage to breath a fair amount of that gunk.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You are supposed to get the he double out of the way.

Oh well, at least now you have an idea about what not to do .

 

[Don2222]

Question: Is it possible to cover the surface of the impeller with something to prevent the ultra fine dust from clinging to the surface?

Yes, I use Dry Moly and it works great!
In google search
"East Coast pellet stove dry moly"

 

[Stovensen]

Maybe if you had a HEPA air filter sitting right next to where the stove intakes the convection fan air, you could suck the white dust out, before the stove got them?

Good idea with the HEPA filter. After a little search I found a suitable filter from an Electrolux vac. It needs to be compact, since there's not much space between the blower intake and the surrounding parts. Especially the auger end plate is close.
The filter only costs about $8, but this investment should effectively reduce the need for cleaning the impeller, and maybe more important: Less particles are blown out in the room. It should be fairly easy to install.
http://www.amazon.com/HQRP-Cartridge-Electrolux-Upright-Coaster/dp/B00L2AWSDO

 

[Stovensen]

Yes, I use Dry Moly and it works great!
In google search
"East Coast pellet stove dry moly"

Don, if installing the HEPA filter on the convection blower turns out a success, then it probably won't be necessary to coat the impeller.
I have one question though: Do you know, if the HEPA filter will restrict the airflow in the convection blower too much?

 

[Don2222]

Don, if installing the HEPA filter on the convection blower turns out a success, then it probably won't be necessary to coat the impeller.
I have one question though: Do you know, if the HEPA filter will restrict the airflow in the convection blower too much?

Oh Yes, that is the problem. A HEPA filter will restrict air flow and clog up very quickly! I use dust screens but the ones with wide spacing. Even those have to be cleaned 3 or 4 times a year or they will completely clog up too!

However the screens are easy to clean, just peel or brush the dust off the screen surface.

See screen in blower pic below.

 

[Bioburner]

Problem of most filters is they are designed for vacs that have many times the HP. We are talking fractional HP and lot of vacs boast 3-5 HP